The Class 4A Champion Chargers will be hitting the road to take on the Class 5A New Braunfels Unicorns and the Class 3A Boerne High Greyhounds will be playing host to fellow 3A opponent Hondo.

For the Chargers, tomorrow night's battle with the Unicorns will be the first game under new head coach Keith Kaiser, who took over the Champion program when Danny Threadgill retired at the end of last season.

“Our kids have stepped up the physical nature of what New Braunfels brings and that's going to be a big deal, because they're going to be a lot bigger than we are and we know that,” Kaiser said. “We're going to have to play with tempo and we're going to have to play with emotion.”

Champion won last year's season opener against the visiting Unicorns 44-34, but this year's contest is not likely to be as high scoring. With nine defensive starters back from last year's squad, the Unicorns should be improved on that side of the ball.

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Champion also waved goodbye this spring to record-setting quarterback Kyle Poeske and his entire group of starting receivers. And with Kaiser emphasizing the run, ball control tops his agenda.

That was clear during last Friday's scrimmage against visiting Churchill, as Champion running backs Travis Posposil and Austin Humphries reeled off one good run after another during the live quarter. The running game bought quarterbacks Alex Flores and Josh Green time to throw as the defense pitched a shutout.

“First downs are more important at times in a game than a score in keeping our defense off the field,” Kaiser explained. “I think that's where we gained our advantage in the live quarter. We kept moving the chains, and they got a little worn out.”

Boerne High School head football coach Mike Dormady may also play his offense a little closer to the vest Friday against Hondo, but in his case, it's not by choice.

Starting quarterback Quinten Dormady is still rehabbing a baseball injury and won't be cleared to throw a football until mid-September. It will be much longer before he's cleared for contact. Until then, the offense will be in the hands of senior quarterback David Snelling and an entire new fleet of receivers.

The 6-foot, 4-inch Dormady is a pure pocket passer while the shorter Snelling is more adept at throwing on the run. Coach Dormady will likely take that into account, but he still expects his offense to dictate terms to opposing defenses. It's a fairly complex system and last Friday's final scrimmage with La Vernia failed to iron out all the wrinkles.

“We still had a bunch of dropped passes and bad decisions, so it was more of the same,” Dormady lamented. “At some point in time, it's going to click. We're just going to continue working on what we do and try to get what we do in practice to show up on Friday night.

“We go up against a playoff-type team right off the bat. You've got to put your feet in the sand, bow your neck, get it done at home and protect your home turf.”